Dangerous Animals (15)

Shark-obsessed serial killer Tucker abducts nomadic surfer Zephyr and holds her hostage on his boat moored on Australia's beautiful Gold Coast. She regains consciousness in confinement with another victim, Heather, who Tucker intends to feed to ravenous sharks and record the bloodbath on a handheld camera. Zephyr realises she is next to be dangled over the water as chum and must outwit her captor.

LondonNet Film Review

Dangerous Animals (15) Film Review from LondonNet

On land, humans like to believe they are apex predators, sitting atop the food chain without any natural rivals. In the water, however, the tide turns in favour of killer whales, sharks and crocodiles among other species that ruthlessly punish intruders to their fresh- and saltwater realms. Apex predators in both habitats become unlikely accomplices in a twisted Australian horror thriller directed by Sean Byrne, which can be crudely summed up as The Silence Of The Lambs meets Jaws…

Screenwriter Nick Lepard pares down a simple yet ingenious premise to the bone, introducing us to a serial killer played with snarling menace by Jai Courtney, who gets his kicks by feeding young women to ravenous sharks off the back of his boat. He stores VHS cassettes of each kill with a lock of the victim’s hair and believes his “true calling” is to revere the carnivorous fish using live human bait.

He meets his match in Hassie Harrison’s spunky, nomadic surfer, who refuses to accept her grim fate and fights back against her sadistic captor. The bruising battle of wits doesn’t outstay its welcome with a trim running time of 98 minutes but director Byrne struggles to maintain a steady rate of knots with an antagonist who refuses to stray from his modus operandi. By the time a third victim is dangling over open water with a hungry shark swimming a few feet below, ghoulish repetition takes the wind out of the film’s sails.

Zephyr (Harrison) seeks the best waves in the Australian community of Surfers Paradise where she meets sweet-natured real estate agent, Moses (Josh Heuston). He persuades her to momentarily let down her emotional blockade and reconsider her mantra to answer the solitary calling of the sea. Spooked by the possibility of something meaningful with Moses, Zephyr flees his homemade breakfast and unknowingly crosses paths with Tucker (Courtney) at the beach.

The stranger injects Zephyr with a sedative and when she regains consciousness, she is handcuffed to a metal bed in the belly of Tucker’s boat alongside British tourist Heather (Ella Newton). The captives are pitted against a seasoned murderer, who records his kills on a handheld camera. “Tell me that isn’t the greatest show on Earth!” gushes Tucker as he stares through the camera’s viewfinder and witnesses razor-sharp shark teeth tearing through sun-kissed human flesh.

Dangerous Animals paddles confidently towards a preordained resolution, powered by combative screen chemistry between Courtney and Harrison. The romantic subplot overloads sweetness to the point of risibility. Screenwriter Lepard has a sharper ear for compelling intimidation than flirtation. Satisfying jolts of strong, bloody violence and gore serve the lean plot. It’s definitely not safe to go back into the water.

– Sarah Lee